SAGE grants help revitalize East Side

Joaquinn Arch used a San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside grant to renovate a building at 734 N. New Braunfels into a multi-use venue.

Joaquinn Arch used a San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside grant to renovate a building at 734 N. New Braunfels into a multi-use venue.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Photo: Courtesy Photo

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Joaquinn Arch used a San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside grant to renovate a building at 734 N. New Braunfels into a multi-use venue.

Joaquinn Arch used a San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside grant to renovate a building at 734 N. New Braunfels into a multi-use venue.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

SAGE grants help revitalize East Side

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As a former college basketball star, Joaquinn Arch finds value in even the smallest windows of opportunity.

Now, after returning from school to East San Antonio with a master's degree in community development, Arch is one of seven business owners who has found value thanks to grants from San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside (SAGE).

Led by executive director Jackie Gorman, SAGE has provided 35 such grants since its inception in 2010. Each grant is worth up to $20,000, and funded by a number of public and private sponsors, including the Spurs and the city of San Antonio itself.

The funding is roughly 80 percent public, and each grant must be matched by the business owner, said Gorman.

“Everybody approaches development differently,” she said. “We're trying to change the appearance of our streets — even the smallest renovations can be so important.”

While Arch stared down future NBA legend Paul Pierce in 1998's March Madness for Houston's Prairie View A&M against Kansas, he's now spending his March facing the equally formidable task of making vital renovations and repairs.

“The exterior of all these buildings is your first impression of the area,” Arch said. “It doesn't matter if the interior is immaculate — people go off of first sight.”

His property, formerly Grandview Food Center, is currently on its second SAGE grant. In just months, he's transformed the space into a multi-use venue.

With an ice cream parlor, barbershop and business center already in place, Arch has also cleared space by the side of the building for a series of food trucks to set up.

Other business owners, like Edward Karam, tenant of 1141 E. Commerce, also recognize the value of improving property fronts.

Karam, who leases his building — built in 1876 — to Alibi's Sports and Spirits, noted that Eastside urban renewal projects are always trying to “rehab” businesses, rather than uproot them.

Karam, who won an award for his adaptive reuse of the building in 1981, said that the structure was in such poor condition at the time of its purchase in 1979 that investors were scarce.

Regardless, he took the time to lift the entire building up and renew the foundation in hopes of keeping its unique, historical architecture.

“Today, 1141 East Commerce remains the only frame building in the St. Paul Square area,” Karam said.

Arch is quick to point out that these small victories are desperately needed in a larger struggle for the East Side's economic autonomy.

“Investors come in here, buy up whole blocks at a time, and try to change the culture,” Arch said. “That's the difference between economic and community development: I'm one of the people trying to change mindsets without changing the culture.”

In short, business owners like Arch are looking for a way to uproot their literal foundations without disrupting the figurative ones. SAGE grants, Arch said, provide just the means to accomplish this.

In an area where Arch noted many property owners are still reluctant to have glass on their store fronts, even protected by iron bars or boarding, even the smallest windows can be a welcome sign.

“There's always an opportunity for a dream, no matter how small the window,” Arch said.